The Trail
by outshinebycomparison
Summary: What happened to Kitty and Thomas after their kiss in the last episode of the Crimson Field. This is my continuation to their story. Feedback and reviews would be lovely, thanks!
1. Chapter 1

A lot of people were left disappointed and angry when the bbc unexpectedly decided not to renew this little gem called The Crimson Field. I really wanted to know more about all these characters I grew to love, especially Kitty and Thomas, my beloved otp. So, this is my attempt at telling what I think would have happened to them after the kiss in the last episode. I'm quite new to this writing thing and English is not my first language. Special thanks goes to Glo and Pemonynen (- check her stories, she is great!)

**1.**

1915

When they stopped kissing, Kitty took her hands off Thomas's shoulders very slowly and locked her gaze with his. She got lost in them again, her heart light in her chest. Thomas, on the other hand, was in awe and felt his heart racing even faster.

Thomas began turning his cap in his hands when Kitty gestured to him to sit down on a trunk nearby. He obeyed and then turned himself to look back at her. It was all so sudden. It was only a few days earlier that he was trying to understand what to do about his feelings for Kitty, when she had made it clear she wasn't there to get entangled. And now she had told him the reason she had stepped back and asked to meet him. He sensed there was more to tell. As it was up to Kitty to let him know, he spoke what he knew he owed her.

"I'm very sorry for what happened in the operating tent. The things I said …they were wrong and I was a fool for assuming them."

"Apologies accepted. Haven't we all been guilty of that?" Kitty said quietly.

Thomas cleared his throat and added "But, there is one thing I'm actually not sorry about"

Kitty looked puzzled "Is there?"

"Aye" He looked down at her waist with a nervous smile. Kitty opened and closed her mouth.

"You stopped" she reminded him.

"You know it wasn't the right time. It took me so much strenght and will to stop" He blushed.

"Now you don't have to anymore" She said leaning over him to kiss him again, surprised by her own boldness.

"Kitty, would you talk to me about what has happened to you? " He paused but then quickly added "Or if you don't want to now, whenever you want…I mean"

"No no, it's fine. I want to tell you. You'll change your opinion about me, though."

"Well, let me be the judge of that, right?" He smiled reassuringly.

Kitty told him her story from the beginning; the reasons she had gotten married, pushed by her mother because their financial situation was difficult and Vincent was the son of family friends who had always showed a keen interest in her. In the beginning things were good, but it didn't take much for Vincent to show his true nature as an abusive man. He was verbally aggressive, and later it turned physical. When Sylvie was born, things seemed to get better, but then he went back to his old habits.

Kitty endured it all for the sake of her daughter but she arrived at the point, around six months before the start of the war, that she had enough of that hell. She knew it was nearly impossible for a woman in her position to divorce her husband. She had met another man, and she hastily made the decision of escaping with him, taking Sylvie with her.

They went to live in the West End, but it wasn't a suitable place for a little girl, and they started to find themselves in an economical struggle.

With a heavy heart Kitty brought Sylvie back home. Leaving her daughter was much harder than leaving home at first. Kitty, as she couldn't herself go back home, asked her mother for help, but she was furious because Kitty had dishonored the family and didn't want anything to do with her. Vincent wouldn't let her see Sylvie again, his cruel words still sounding in her head.

Kitty felt destroyed and defeated. In the meantime war had broken out and Kitty, after lingering in her heartache for some time, had come upon a pamphlet about the V.A.D. organization. Kitty read it over several times before making up her mind. She had never properly worked in her life, the only thing she thought she could do was taking care of her daughter, although in the light of the recent events she had questioned herself if she had been a good mother. She needed to escape a situation that appeared unsolvable and to do something with her life. Joining the V.A.D. seemed at the moment her only way out of things.

Thomas had listened to her silently, almost holding his breath. There were moments where he had gasped loud, but it was when Kitty had recapped Vincent's visit to France that he exclaimed "Bloody bastard!"

He stood up and mumbled "If I'd been there I would have killed him".

"That's why I'm glad it was Miles who was there. I can't thank him enough for his help and discretion" she said.

"At least you're free from your husband" Thomas asserted "What do you want to do now?"

She shook her head "I don't know. My mother wrote me that I'm dead to her. And since I'm not a respectable woman anymore, I have no possibility to have my daughter back, or even to see her again"

"To me you are a respectable woman" He said firmly "You made a brave choice, I don't know how many would have done it" He took her hands in his "Yes, you have paid a very big price for this, but not for a second I believe you don't deserve to have your child back or to be happy again. We'll do something, I promise you!"

Kitty's eyes got misty when Thomas said _we. _She knew he hadn't realized he had said so and that made him even more remarkable.

"We should go back now. But there's one more thing we need to talk about…" he said.

"Us" she finished the sentence for him.

"This is complicated, but my feelings for you…. they are real" he said softly.

"So are mine. Oh my God, so are mine!"

"But we both know the rules. As you said, if anybody finds out, you'd be the one sent away. And that wouldn't be fair."

"We'll have to live day by day and be discreet."

"I'm not sure if I can do that." He sighed "It's going to be a struggle for me to stay away from you."

"If there is something I learned from my marriage, it's how to keep up the appearances." She said in a bitter-sweet tone "I'll teach you."

Kitty left first. After a few minutes Thomas followed her. He reached his tent, where Miles was sitting on his bed reading a magazine of his. Thomas greeted him and exchanged a few words. Thomas thought that he'd have to talk to Miles sooner or later. He was his best friend and he needed to be told. He believed Miles didn't really fancy Kitty, but he would have certainly questioned why he had kept everything for himself. Although Thomas knew Miles quite well, he suddenly thought that he wasn't sure of his reaction.

His shift would start in less than two hours, so he let himself drop on the bed and closed his eyes. All he could see were Kitty's dark eyes and her smile as he drifted off.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello! Thank you so much for your feedback, it's very much appreciated! Here follows the second chapter, I have to say I don't know when I'll publish the next one because I'll be soon going to holiday. Last thing, a huge thank you goes to my beta pemonynen._

**2.**

February 1916

This time Thomas didn't turn away his pass. He, Kitty and two other nurses travelled to Boulogne for the day. Thomas was so nervous he acted grumpily for the whole journey. Kitty was amused but kept talking to the nurses and tried to engage him in the conversation.

The truck left them at the harbor, where Kitty had arrived with the boat almost a year earlier. Thomas waved them and walked away toward the pier, where a cold wind was blowing on his face, cooling his thoughts. The two nurses asked Kitty if she wanted to join them for a walk, but she politely declined stating she had errands to run. When they left, Kitty joined Thomas at the pier. She touched his arm and whispered "They are out of sight now." Finally Thomas smiled and looked at her in that way that made her blush.

"Shall we sit for a while?" he asked "I made a reservation for half past twelve."

Miles had once mentioned him a bistro near the harbor but lost between the little streets, mostly frequented by locals. Thomas thought it could be a good place for them to have lunch in peace.

They reached the end of the pier and sat down on a wooden bench. They maintained a few inches distance from each other, as there were too many people around, even if fortunately no military personnel was present.

Kitty pointed at another pier at her right "That is where the boat landed when I arrived here."

Thomas motioned for her to continue, listening intently.

"I threw my wedding ring into the water right there. It felt like a liberating gesture to me, but it wasn't the most astonishing thing of that day…"

Thomas raised an eyebrow "And what would that be?"

"When I refused to let you help me get down the truck. I didn't know why back then, but it was like you made me feel…."

"Alarmed? I can tell you a few things about being alarmed." He laughed.

"I didn't expect, or better said, I didn't think I could expect any of this. The field hospital isn't exactly a comfort place, and yet I am finding one in you."

Thomas slowly moved his fingers to touch Kitty's hand that was resting on the bench. Then he quickly pulled it back when a group of sailors walked past them.

"The thing is, you shouldn't stop believing things can change, even in the most unexpected place. I thwarted my destiny because of that. Otherwise I would be working in a factory in Glasgow like my parents and I wouldn't be a surgeon here on the front line. And it all began when I started running errands for our neighborhood doctor."

Kitty looked at him with fondness "That is how you became interested in medicine?"

"Yes. I would often follow Dr Mc Murphy in his visits. He always explained me things and then it just happened…I thought I could become a doctor. I will always be grateful to him: he helped me prepare for the admission test and he has always supported me.

"He's very important to you."

"He is. I've been writing to him from here. He's retired now but still very interested in the activity, especially what I'm doing here."

"Your story is so inspiring Tom, really."

After a while Thomas stood up from the bench and looked at his wrist watch "I think it's time we go to the restaurant now."

"What are your plans for this afternoon?" She asked innocently.

Thomas smirked. He took her hand and helped her up, walking toward the alley that led to the bistro. He stopped at a corner and stared at her, his blue eyes becoming suddenly deeper. Then he grabbed her gently by the waist, and pulled her close, his nose and mouth almost touching hers. Kitty felt numb.

"We have so little time" he whispered "What I want to do…" He backed away a little sighing "I wish we had this night for us, do you understand?" Kitty nodded and rested her forehead on his chest "I do."

The bistro was a really small place. The tables were all for two people, all placed against each other. Luckily there weren't many people there and they were all French, who didn't care of English couples in service who shouldn't spend their time together. Kitty and Thomas were able to sit quietly one in front of the other, their knees touching. They sat and talk until closing time, when the owner kindly reminded them that he needed to clean the place for the evening opening. Thomas talked to her about his life in Glasgow and his family. With his job he had managed to pay for his siblings' education. Theresa was a school teacher and Alexander was in engineering school. He also had enlisted for the war, but he was in the navy, somewhere in the North Sea. His parents were still working in a steel factory.

"Do they look like you?" she asked

"The three of us, we're all copies of my father. With the sole difference that my sister is a darling! I have a picture of the three of us, I'll show it to you one day."

"I would love to see them! I am an only child…how many times I wished I had a brother or a sister while growing up. I felt very lonely often, and for that I became a lonely person!"

"I'm like you…suppose I've been so focused on my goals that I haven't realized that I needed to have more people around me"

"Miles is a good friend for you…although you're like the moon and sun." Kitty asserted

"Miles is like having four different friends in one person" he snorted "And he's definitely the sun between the two of us."

He cleared his voice "Speaking of Miles, I better talk to him tonight. I don't like keeping things from him, even if I'm not sure of his reaction."

Kitty agreed with him. She had always been of the idea that Miles didn't really like her in that way, but he enjoyed i joking about it immensely. Thomas wasn't so sure, but mostly he was afraid that something might change in their friendship.

They paid for their lunch and left the bistro. They strolled for a while together and then went separate ways, as Kitty actually had some purchases to make. They reunited at the port, with Thomas being a little more confident in his charade.

When Thomas arrived at the field hospital, he didn't find Miles, who was most likely having dinner at the canteen as his shift had started in the morning. So he tidied his side of the tent and sat in front of his desk to finish a report that was due in a few days, waiting for Miles. He wasn't hungry, he felt like the emotions of the day had filled not only his soul but his body too.

Miles finally arrived, greeted Thomas by asking how his day off had been, and prepared to go the bed. Thomas gathered up the courage to talk

"Miles, I need to talk to you."

Miles stood silent for a while and looked at him with an expression Thomas wasn't able to decipher.

"It was about time." he said flatly.

Thomas gulped and turned somehow paler.

"I know what you want to talk me about, and yes I know about you and Miss Trevelyan" he said smiling.

"My dear friend" he stood up and walked toward his friend. He stopped at his side and put a hand on his shoulder, noticing how tense Thomas was. "I saw you and Kitty meeting in the woods. I didn't see what happened next but I know what happens when it's about the matters of the heart" he said with a dramatic tone.

"Miles, I'm sorry I didn't talk to you before, I should have told you straight away and not postpone it. We have been such good friends, and you deserve honesty from me."

"I was actually disappointed when I saw you in the woods, but only because you never, ever mentioned anything of your feelings. I might have known you for a long time, but you are still a hard book to read Tom."

"Yes, I know" he said with a half smile.

"Of course I like Kitty. But I don't have any serious intention concerning her."

"So we're alright?" Thomas asked

"Of course we are" he paused to laugh "It took a woman like Kitty to take off a bit of your armor."

Thomas tilted his head and blushed "Aye. She is very special. I was living an orderly and focused life, and then she came and turned it upside down."

"Oh dear me. Your crush is so touching"

Thomas rolled his eyes. Good old Miles "I wish we were in a different time and place though. If someone finds out about us, it's over for Kitty here. And she's been through a lot already." Miles looked at him in agreement.

"Well, I'll be mute as a tomb my friend but…the next time I see Kitty I am going to ask her what on earth did she find in a bear like you." he winked at his friend "Good night!"


End file.
